Soccer Tournaments in Norway

Soccer tournaments in Norway have to be squeezed in to a relatively short summer season, since a third of the country lies above the Arctic Circle. But while the summers may be short, there is plenty of time to get your games in, since daylight can last for up to 22 hours at that time of year in the country that is known as the land of the midnight sun.

Oslo, which is both Norway’s capital city and its largest, is in the southern part of the country, well away from the arctic and much more temperate in climate. Most Norwegians live near the coast where winters are warmer and snow melts relatively quickly in the spring.

Skiing, rather than soccer, is Norway’s national sport, particularly the cross-country variety. Most Norwegians learn to ski before they even start school.

But the nation’s stature as a soccer nation has been steadily growing in the 30 years or so since the men famously defeated England in World Cup qualifying in 1981. The women, of course, have been a world power ever since the game was first recognized by FIFA.

Many Norwegian players have since found their way into the top leagues of Europe, particularly in England. My personal favorite is Ole Gunnar Solskar, formerly of Manchester United. His injury time winner against Beyern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final is one of soccer’s most memorable moments of the last decade or so.

The National team has qualified for the World Cup in both 1994 and 1998, but has been through a bit of a barren spell in more recent years. If yours is a girl’s or women’s team, you may find better competition in Norway than in some of the more “traditional” soccer nations of Italy, Spain or England, where the men’s version of the sport continues to reign supreme.

Here, then is our list of soccer tournaments in Norway.

Custom Search

June

August

If you are the director of a soccer tournament in Norway, you can have your event listed here by filling out our soccer tournament submission form. If you can send us a logo, too, and a brief description of the event, we'll get you listed right away.